


Long Past Dawn

by JaggedHearts



Series: Winteriron Collection [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Hurt Tony Stark, M/M, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-21 15:02:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18143759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaggedHearts/pseuds/JaggedHearts
Summary: When your soulmate dies or goes into a coma, they appear to you in the form of a ghost.The Winter Soldier wasn’t aware that he had one.





	Long Past Dawn

The Winter Soldier wasn’t always out this long, but when he was it was usually for a very good reason. This time he hadn’t been told what that reason was. He wasn’t expecting any information. It would be dangerous to.

All he knew that there had been something going on in New York. HYDRA was preparing for war it seemed. Or maybe they were finally going to take over the world. The soldiers were grabbing guns and armoring up. The Winter Soldier wasn’t instructed to do either.

He was situated in a repair room. The Soldier was expecting a check-up on his arm, but when no-one came in the four hours that followed, he grew antsy.

That was when it appeared.

It materialized out of nowhere and in seconds the Soldier was up with a knife pointed at the floating see-through figure. It-he raised his hands in a form of surrender. Not that he had doe anything that would point him out to being dangerous. They both seemed to be bewildered. The floating man was looking at his arms in curiosity, studying his floating figure. Apparently, the ghost hadn’t been aware he was a ghost.

“Who are you?” the Soldier grunted out, the knife still pointed at the ghost. He wished he wouldn’t have to use it on the ghost- the thought stroke him as odd. He wasn’t used to wishing and wanting things.

The ghost looked around the room, disgust rising on his face at the conditions. Sure, the room wasn’t the cleanest, but it wasn’t the worst room HYDRA had. “I am dead and disgusted apparently. But if you’re looking for a name, it’s Tony.”

The Soldier watched hi-Tony with careful eyes, “why are you here?”

“I died, I don’t remember what happened or why I died. And you’re uh- my soulmate apparently,” Tony shrugged his translucent shoulders. “When you die, you go to your soulmate and live as a ghost for only their eyes. Dunno why, but that’s how it is.”

“A soulmate-?” The Winter Soldier whispered, his confusion evident in his voice.

“Look, it’s ah- it’s the person you are the most compatible with, you can fall in love with them or they can stay as your best friend. They’re the one person in the world, who is unable to hurt you,” Tony clicked his tongue. “I guess it’s only irony that I’d find the one person who’d never hurt me once I’m dead.”

“I wasn’t aware I had a soul,” the Soldier simply stated. Tony floated closer to him, his fingers ghosting (he could _feel_ the touch) over his metallic arm. His eyes raised to the Soldier’s and the wind was knocked out of him at how expressing Tony’s beautiful brown eyes were. He felt like he could watch those eyes for the rest of his life. And he supposed he would, Tony was dead after all.

It suddenly struck the Soldier that he was never going to feel Tony, not truly. He wouldn’t be able to taste him, kiss him, take care of him. The powerful need to have Tony close struck his chest and he moved his flesh arm, tears in his eyes, wishing, hoping he could grasp the man he was destined to love.

His hand went through Tony.

The Soldier wasn’t prepared for the pain that struck him. The pain seemed to transfer to Tony too as he inhaled. “Why can I not touch you?” he asked, and Tony smiled, only filled with sorrow.

“I am not here, only my soul is,” the simple sentence seemed to drain both of them as Tony leaned back, out of reach and the Soldier sighed, deeply.

“Where are you then?” He asked the ghost of a man. “I could bring you back. Maybe they could save you here.”

“I do not keep track of my worldly body. It lives on its own, until I would be united with my soulmate,” Tony rolled his shoulders. “Someone is coming,” he hissed before sliding behind the Soldier. “ _Who?_ ”

The technician stepped into the room, his eyes cold and calculating as he regarded the Asset. Silently the round man got to work on his arm. The Soldier held his words and stared towards the wall. In the background, under the white noise in his ears, he could hear the ghost spitting curse words. Tony could see that the maintenance hurt the Soldier. Wishing not to cause more harm to the other half of his soul, he tried to hide the grimaces much more carefully.

The technician poked and probed at the grinding wires. The arm was connected directly to his nerve system so any touch inside it was like shoving a knife in his flesh arm. The Asset wasn’t sure which would be less painful. It wasn’t like he could do anything about it.

After 30 minutes the man was finished. He left the room without a word. Tony floated right in front of him, but he couldn’t take his eyes off of the wall. He couldn’t show the ghost the amount of pain he was in.

_New mission._

_Mission assigner: The Asset, Winter Soldier._

_Protect soulmate, Tony._

_Mission priority: Level One Plus Priority._

The Asset shuddered. This was new. He’d never been able to assign a mission himself. He lifted his gaze to the ghost’s eyes. _Worry_.

He cringed.

Tony’s eyes were full of pain and worry, directed towards the Asset. He couldn’t understand. Why did Tony feel for him? Why? Why? _Why_?

“Are you alright?” Tony’s hand hovered in the air, wishing to comfort with touch, but unable to.

“The Asset is 84% operational.”

“Okay no, that’s not what I asked,” Tony leveled him with a stare- it was absolutely compelling. It made him want to tell the ghost every single thing. “I asked if you were alright.”

“I- I am not sure.”

“Oh, boy.”

 

_29 days later_

He gasped for air as he was pulled from the cryo tube.

“Maintenance check-up, Asset.” Alexander Pierce informed him. And that was it. The men dragged the limp man to the repair room before leaving him alone.

What the Soldier didn’t know was that they were testing if he’d start speaking to the air.

Tony appeared in front of him. He was about to call the ghosts name, but Tony raised his finger in a silencing way. “They are trying to see if I am your soulmate. Do not speak.”

“They put you back under 29 days ago. Five days later they watched the security footage and heard you speaking on your own.” Tony floated closer. “They suspect it’s me. Apparently, whatever happened in New York caused this,” he gestured to his ghostly form.

Suddenly a blueish light started to shine from Tony, who looked around extremely confused. “What’s happening?” the Soldier asked, reaching out to the ghost.

“I don’t know,” Tony’s voice held a panicked edge. Seemingly neither of them knew what was happening.

“Tony, no!” He yelled as the ghost evaporated into blue light, sending a massive EMP through the base, shutting down his arm and every single electronic device.

Once again, the Asset was left alone.

\--<>\--<>\--<>\--<>\--<>\--<>\--<>\--<>\--

“Tony?” he heard Rhodey ask as a bright light filled his eyes. He winced and closed them up. “Hey, it’s okay. Pepper, turn the lights off, would you? Tony?”

“What hap- happened?” his voice broke in the middle. He adjusted to the dark room, turning his eyes towards his best friend.

“You were in a coma,” Rhodey breathed out brokenly. “You were in a coma for 30 days, you bastard. Gave me a scare like no other…”

Rhodey’s voice drowned out into the background as the memories from meeting his soulmate and being a ghost came back.

He’d had everything for a moment, now he once again had nothing.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first oneshot in a collection of bunch more to come. I'll be adding longer fics and short stories in the series too, so subscribe to it if you're interested in reading more!
> 
> [ **My Tumblr** ](http://www.tumblr.com/blog/jaggedheartstrings)


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